When Solly turned two, I mentioned on his birthday post that he wasn’t much of a talker. That was my VERY gentle way of saying that my kid said nothing. Like NOTHING at all. He made sounds, for sure, but they weren’t intentional or said at times that made any sense. Or wait, I should take that back. He had one long line of sounds that we always took as “Where’s _______?” Wheresdaaaa? Whereslaaaa? Stuff like that. But not even “hi” or “bye.” Nada.
We are so fortunate to have a dear friend nearby who happens to be an occupational therapist, and she lovingly suggested we try some baby sign language. Her advice wasn’t even based on his lack of speech, but on the fact that we were struggling hard in our family, and Solly was screaming SO MUCH, and I just needed some of it to stop!! She suggested that Solly’s ability to communicate even just a bit more might reduce the screaming. I’ve seen lots of baby sign, but have never exercised it in my home. She gave some basic signs to try and told me how to begin the teaching process. I don’t know how long it usually takes for a kid to learn sign, but I figured with Solly being two already, it would be a pretty quick sell.
He took to it differently than I had expected. We worked with him, and helped him sign “more” and “all done” any and every time it was relevant. And he HATED it!! He would fight SO hard, ad refused to do the sign himself. At one point, he was positively wailing for crackers, and I was waiting patiently for him to sign, because he knew that was what was expected of him, and instead, he just bellowed “CRACKERRRRR!” So yes, obviously, the kid got a cracker, because TALKING! That seemed to start something.
He finally started signing on his own for things, but almost immediately, it turned to him doing the “more” sign while saying “mo!” He also started talking, kind of out of nowhere! When he signs “done,” he says “done!” Its SO awesome! In the last two weeks, he went from basically no language to saying all kinds of things! Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, ya, no, please, thank you, more, done, help, banana, pants (lol!) and lots of other things! Ya and no have been total game changers, honestly. They help SO much, because as a two year old, he has opinions about things, and he’s old enough to make some choices, and now that he finally says a few things, he can finally communicate what he wants. Frustration – POOF! – gone!
Another big change in his speaking is that he’ll try new words all the time! Its like its finally clicked. He’ll mimic what we say, what the kids say, etc., and then gets excited when we all get excited for him! He’s so easily brighten up and encourage.
I feel like, at the very LEAST, the little bit of sign that we taught him brought him a huge amount of confidence! It was like, once he had felt the relief of being able to communicate even just a little, he KNEW he could do more! He is relieved, and so are we! So. Are. We.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved this kid before he talked. But our relationship has shifted beautifully since he could speak to me, and I could better meet his needs. SO much nicer for both of us!
** He just handed me a toy truck and told me “tuck.” His language is about to whip into gear, just you wait!!